


#43 that's gross

by shineexofest



Category: EXO (Band), SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 05:06:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11844543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shineexofest/pseuds/shineexofest
Summary: Prompt #43: Taemin is a fledgling vampire, accidentally-turned after a feeding gone wrong. Kyungsoo, his long suffering roommate, offers himself as a bloodbag.





	#43 that's gross

**Author's Note:**

> Hello prompter;;; I know you said no major angst, but this fic kind of got out of hand with. feelings. ;;; I hope it doesn't make you too upset, and you can still enjoy it regardless! tw: some gory? scenes? i didn't try to focus too much on the blood and gore, because on some level, Taemin is uncomfortable with those aspects of being a vampire/feeding. Also ! thank you to n<3 who helped me beta this Giant Mess

The night he turned, Taemin took off into the forest, ravenous and struck by bloodlust but terrified of how aware he was of human vulnerability. How simple it would be to take down strangers and feed on them.  
  
He’d ended up going on a feeding frenzy after his first kill, underestimating his thirst. It was a nightmare—losing control of his body and his judgement like that.  After waking up in the middle of the forest surrounded by various animal carcasses, he had vowed he’d find a better solution.  
  
He did not, however, count on Kyungsoo as being part of that solution.  
  
Taemin had resolved to learn how to control his hunger and portion out his feedings, but this resulted in a lot of skipping out on dance practice and leaving their dorm at odd hours of the night. He was also avoiding Kyungsoo as much as possible because he didn’t want him to know; didn’t want his roommate to hate him, or worse, be scared of him.  
  
Avoiding Kyungsoo, however, didn’t really do much to keep Taemin off Kyungsoo’s radar, which resulted in the confrontation that Taemin is currently dealing with at the moment, which may just be as terrifying as the night he’d suddenly found out that he had to suck blood to stay alive.  
  
Kyungsoo had somehow followed him into the woods outside of campus without Taemin noticing, watched him capture a water deer, kill it, and do a breathing exercise before and after feeding (he was testing his self-restraint) before tackling him to the ground with his arm bent behind him, pinning him down with his legs on either side of his stomach.  
  
Like, he knew Kyungsoo did judo, but shit, Taemin wasn’t even like, human anymore.  
  
“Is this what the fuck you’ve been doing lately that makes you come in at all fucking hours of the  night when I’m trying to get some fucking sleep.”  
  
It’s not even a question, so Taemin just stares somewhere past Kyungsoo’s ear, lips curling into an embarrassed, sheepish smile. There’s no avoiding it at this point.  
  
“I’m a vampire, now?” Taemin offers unhelpfully.  
  
Kyungsoo flicks his forehead. “I fucking figured, you giant asswipe. When were you gonna tell me?”  
  
Taemin tries really hard not to stare at Kyungsoo’s adam’s apple as he talks. It’s always been distracting, but it's worse now because Kyungsoo is like, a potential victim? and Taemin isn’t sure if it’s the blood rushing in his veins or how Kyungsoo’s skin looks in the twilight that makes him feel like he has to restrain himself.  
  
“Um.”  
  
Kyungsoo sighs, exasperated. “Does Jongin know?”  
  
Taemin purses his lips. “Well, no..”  
  
Kyungsoo smacks him upside the head, which doesn’t hurt as much as it used to, but is still unpleasant. Unbidden, his fangs flash as he bares his teeth. “What?!”  
  
Kyungsoo is miraculously unbothered. “How the fuck are you not going to tell your best friends you turned into a fucking vampire? Also how the fuck do you think you’re gonna get through this semester if you can’t show up to practice because you’re out mauling cows and shit?”  
  
“Actually, that was a deer-“  
  
“Did I fucking ask.”  
  
Taemin sits up, causing Kyungsoo to slide off from where he was sitting on Taemin’s stomach to pin him down, onto Taemin’s lap. He used to never be able to get Kyungsoo off of him if he had him in a bodylock before.  
  
Kyungsoo is still looking expectantly at him, so he gives up, not knowing what else to say but the truth. “I was afraid you would like...  Be scared of me or hate me or something, I don’t know.. I didn’t want you guys to worry-or drop me or something.”  
  
Kyungsoo looks at him like he just said something incredibly dense and Taemin just stares at him, not knowing what else to say.  
  
The look Kyungsoo is giving him is somehow both bloodcurdling and disbelieving. "So you thought. You were gonna get away with not telling your roommate that you're a fucking blood leech now because you thought I'd abandon you?"  
  
"Well…"  
  
Kyungsoo's head tilts back, the picture of exasperation. Taemin tries really hard not to focus on the long column of _neckneckneck_ that's in front of him.  
  
"You trust us that little?"  
  
Taemin blinks, not having thought about it that way, jaw clenching a little because Kyungsoo's heartbeat is like. Really loud.  
  
"I didn't mean-It's like? exponentially easier for me to be a murderer now? Like. I'd abandon me, I don't know."  
  
Kyungsoo's eyes are on him again, and they're kind of arresting. Kyungsoo isn't even a fucking vampire and he has supernatural powers. It's highly unfair, in Taemin's opinion.  
  
Kyungsoo speaks without any inflection again, asking a question but without sounding like question. "Would you abandon me if I had turned instead?"  
  
Something about it feels like a heavy question, but the answer is simple enough. "No..."  
  
Living with Kyungsoo in general is already hazardous as it is. It wouldn't be much of a difference if he had fangs or not; Taemin’s life would equally be in danger all the same, but he keeps that part to himself.  
  
"Then why do you think that Jongin or I would fucking mind?"  
  
Taemin tries a joke. "Jongin is weak, like little baby."  
  
Kyungsoo snorts. "Fine. Fine. I'll give you that." He pauses, lips pursing. "What about me though."  
  
Taemin doesn't know how to tell Kyungsoo that he really doesn't want Kyungsoo to leave him without it sounding Too Deep. "Um. Well."  
  
Taemin is scrabbling for a casual response, but the grass they are sitting on is not particularly great inspiration.  
  
"I know you aren't gone enough to forget that vampire or not I can always beat your ass."   
  
Taemin picks at the grass.  
  
"Well, it's not like I owe it to you or something..."  
  
He's mumbling, but realizes he's fucked up as soon as he says it despite missing the brief expression of hurt that crosses Kyungsoo's face since he hasn't looked up from the grass.  
  
Kyungsoo clears his throat, rolling his eyes before pushing a hand through his hair. "That's fine, it's not like I didn't track you down and come here for the fucking sole purpose of offering myself as a bloodbag so you'll have some kind of chance at not failing this fucking semester or something."  
  
Taemin is speechless, because, what? But also, Kyungsoo's bottom lip is jutting out and he's? never? seen Kyungsoo pout over anything in his life?  
  
"Wait... _what_."  
  
Before Kyungsoo can answer, the bushes rustle behind them and a couple of strangers—students—holding picnic paraphernalia emerge, talking animatedly before they stop, catching sight of them. They immediately aim their awful giant flashlights away in surprise.  
  
"Oh! Fuck, so sorry—didn’t mean to interrupt, please, uh, continue, don't mind us!"   
  
Confused, they look at each other, only now realizing what it looks like. Kyungsoo's still sitting on Taemin, straddling his lap as they stare each other down.   
  
Oh.  
  
Taemin panics, dumping Kyungsoo off of his lap and scrabbling backwards before shouting after them.  
  
"Wait, it's not! what it looks like!"  
  
They're already out of sight, but someone is shouting back, "It's cool dude! Pride!"  
  
Kyungsoo is sitting up and brushing himself off, silent as he starts heading back for campus, and Taemin can already feel the cloud of irritation that often surrounds Kyungsoo when he fucks up, but Kyungsoo’s too mad to tell him what he did wrong.  
  
He has lots of questions, but on the walk back to their dorms he’s preoccupied with being torn between saying something and giving Kyungsoo space; it feels like he’s always saying the wrong thing, and he doesn’t want to piss Kyungsoo off any more than he already has.  
  
They’re back in their building by the time Taemin finally musters up the courage to ask, “Did.. did you really mean it when you said you’d let me.. feed from you?”  
  
Kyungsoo stops to turn to him, expression still unforgiving. “Do you think I would joke about something like that, you asshole?”  
  
Taemin blinks once, realizing belatedly that Kyungsoo hadn’t flinched once, even though his eyes are only now probably changing back from the red they take on from feeding. He lost his shit the first time he caught his reflection—learning not only that the vampires not having reflections thing was a lie at the same time as he learned that the red eyes thing wasn’t.  
  
“I can never really tell with you.”  
  
Something about that makes Kyungsoo’s expression soften and he’s turning away, but not before he wraps his fingers around Taemin’s wrist, tugging him down the hall to their dorm. “Let’s get inside.”  
  
Despite the fact that it is probably past midnight by now, they walk into their dorm and see Jongin sprawled across the kitchen counter, assembling a small tower of fruit and packages of instant ramen.   
  
Kyungsoo throws his keys at him, hitting his ass. “Get the fuck off the counter, we eat there.”  
  
Jongin curls up on his side, whining a little as he rubs his ass. “Shit, Soo, you don’t have to throw things.”  
  
He pauses, looking between him and Taemin, brows drawing together. “So.. What’s up? Did something happen that I wasn’t invited to?”  
  
Jongin’s tone is careful, trying to sound innocent, even though he’s always trying to insinuate that Taemin and Kyungsoo are. A Thing.  
  
Which they Aren’t.  
  
Taemin’s trying to hide behind Kyungsoo because he doesn’t know how especially vampire he looks right now, but it’s a little hard because even though he’s not taller than Kyungsoo by too much, he’s still taller.  
  
It’s okay though because Kyungsoo is shoving Jongin off the counter, so he’s a little preoccupied.  
  
“It’s none of your fucking business, now get your nosy ass out of my way.” (Which is Kyungsoo-speak for: I’ll tell you later after you leave me alone, you trickass bitch)  
  
Jongin is pouting up at him, and Taemin thinks he’s home-free before he tries to pass, and Jongin wraps a hand around his ankle.   
  
“Taem you aren’t gonna take my si- Holy shit dude, what the fuck? Your leg is cold as fuck?”  
  
Taemin quickly yanks his ankle out of Jongin’s grip, not turning to face him. “It’s uh. Cold outside.”  
  
Which makes like. No sense because it’s a balmy night out, but it’s too late because Taemin is rushing into his and Kyungsoo’s shared room, nearly shutting the door in Kyungsoo’s face as he follows him in.  
  
Jongin tries to follow too, confused at Taemin’s behavior, now starting to feel left out. Before he can get in though, Kyungsoo crowds him out, talking to him in hushed tones through the partially closed door.  
  
Taemin would listen if he wanted to, the way he couldn’t when he wasn’t a fucking vampire, but he’s busy wrapping himself up in his comforter, upset because he can’t fucking deal with telling his best friend that he isn’t human anymore.  
  
Jongin seems to have been appeased, Taemin hearing a quiet ‘Goodnight’ from Kyungsoo before the door is gently being closed. Kyungsoo lets out a sigh before crossing the room to sit by him.   
  
Taemin scoots over to lean on him, comforter and all, snuggling a little into his chest when he feels Kyungsoo’s arms wrap around him.  
  
“I’m a shitty best friend,” Taemin mumbles.  
  
He feels Kyungsoo nod, feeling him hum lowly. The sound seems to come directly from his chest. “Maybe a little,” Kyungsoo concedes.  
  
They don’t do this a lot. Taemin is really particular about physical touch and proximity to other people, and so is Kyungsoo. But this.. is nice.   
  
Taemin’s phone vibrates on his desk, pushed up against his bed because they don’t have room for it anywhere else in here, and Taemin hisses at the bright light his screen emits.  
  
“Do you want me to?” It’s barely a question because Kyungsoo is already reaching over to get it as Taemin nods against his shoulder.  
  
“It’s Jongin,” he says, looking at the notif.  
  
“Open it.”  
  
Kyungsoo keys in his password, keeping the screen angled away from Taemin’s eyes, dimming the brightness all the way down before showing him. Jongin sent him a picture of a pup and a kitten cuddling. It’s his way of saying they’re okay while also asking if they’re okay.   
  
Kyungsoo scrolls through his pictures, showing a picture of Leonardo and Michelangelo (the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) hugging, in silent question of whether to send it or not. Taemin nods his consent and Kyungsoo sets his phone back. Taemin doesn’t know if he’s fascinated with the way Kyungsoo’s chest stretches as he leans over because his heart is in there or because he feels weirdly safe and taken care of like this.  
  
They’re quiet for a moment, both ruminating. Something about being near Kyungsoo makes the confusion and discomfort at the mess that is Taemin’s life dissipate. Jongin always joked that Taemin’s moods were like a bird’s: violent and abrupt, but easily resolved—he’d read it in a book once or something. Taemin just thinks it’s because he doesn’t bother letting shit settle for too long. Life’s short.  
  
He tilts his head up to look at Kyungsoo, and from this angle, he can see Kyungsoo’s jawline curve into the column of his neck before Kyungsoo tilts his head to look down at him. Something in his chest squeezes. He wonders if it has to do with the fact that Kyungsoo’s blood smells really nice, and his neck is _right there_ , before Kyungsoo speaks.  
  
“What.”  
  
Taemin doesn’t know exactly what comes over him but in a moment he’s pushing himself further into Kyungsoo’s space, knocking him over in surprise as he lays on top of him, nose pressing into the pulse point at Kyungsoo’s neck.  
  
Kyungsoo lifts Taemin’s blanket off of them so he can see what Taemin’s doing, even though he can feel it.   
  
“Taem, what the fuck?”  
  
Taemin tries to calm himself, realizing he’s starting to breathe heavily. His fangs are digging into the flesh of his bottom lip, but he doesn’t open his mouth because then it would be that much easier to bite down.  
  
“I was um. Wondering how serious you were about the feeding thing.”  
  
He can hear Kyungsoo’s heartbeat thundering in his ears. It’s strong, and very fast. Is he scaring him?  
  
Kyungsoo clenches his jaw a little, exasperated, but also preparing himself for the bite. “I wasn’t joking, but a better warning next time would be nice.”  
  
Oh. Taemin should have asked. He takes a deep sniff (Kyungsoo smells Very Good) before pulling off, sitting up on his haunches, legs on either side of Kyungsoo now. Kyungsoo looks confused, having braced himself for the feeding.  
  
“I already fed today,” Taemin says point blank. “I won’t have to feed after a couple days, it’ll.. Give you time to think about it.”  
  
He feels like he sounds cold but Kyungsoo’s squeezing at his side before Taemin rolls off of him, nodding. Kyungsoo gets up to go to their bathroom (the nice thing about their dorm is that they have their own bathroom for their room- no need to go back through the common area) before stopping, wondering aloud.   
  
“Do vampires have to brush their teeth?”  
  
Taemin licks around in his mouth. There’s definitely residual blood in there, so he nods. “Yeah, probably, I still have blood in my mouth.”  
  
“That’s disgusting.”  
  
Taemin blows him a kiss.  
  
  
  
  
Taemin hasn’t really figured everything out yet, avoiding sleep the first few nights because he was usually feeding, and when he managed to calm down enough to sleep, he’d have incredibly terrifyingly vivid dreams about communicating with vampires nearby. He wasn’t even sure if they were dreams at this point, or just another weird vampire thing.   
  
He feels bitter about whoever fucking turned him and then just left him to figure this shit out on his own, or starve out, but he figures if they were shitty enough to just leave him to suffer on his own, he probably wouldn’t want them in his life anyway.  
  
Kyungsoo fell asleep a couple hours back, and Taemin has been content with studying the ceiling. He was autistic already, and had hyperfocus powers before he turned, but now he can hyperfocus on a level that his human eyes weren’t powerful enough to facilitate. Plus, seeing through his night vision is also pretty cool.   
  
Kyungsoo makes a soft noise in his sleep, and Taemin turns to face him, watching Kyungsoo shift on his bed across the room. He wonders what Kyungsoo’s dreaming about, but doesn’t have too much time to speculate before his eyes begin to drift close themselves.  
  
  
Taemin’s dream is no less freaky than the previous night, hit with the pungent smell of blood as soon as he realizes where he is. It’s really heady, but it seems to be coming from everywhere. The house (is it a house? He can’t really tell) that he’s in is strangely fleshy inside, and the ceilings and walls seem to be covered in tubes, thrumming and pulsating.  
  
Is that where the blood smell is from? Holy shit.  
  
He moves closer to the wall, puncturing one of the tubes delicately with his fangs before taking an experimental suck. That’s definitely blood. It tastes even sweeter than it smells, and he takes a long drink before pulling off, licking at the punctured points he left, watching with morbid fascination as it seals itself back up.  
  
He doesn’t want this dream to end, it’s almost like being in Willy Wonka’s factory. For vampires.  
  
He feels a little like he does when he’s drunk, the blood settling in his system and making him feel bubbly. He wonders where all the tubes go, and before he’s really thinking about it, he’s wandering down hallway after hallway of this shit, taking little drinks here and there.  
  
He stumbles around another set of hallways (was the theme of this dream an eternity of hallways or fucking what) before finally spotting a room, this one strangely round. He doesn’t really remember any corners now that he’s thinking about it.   
  
His chest tightens even in his inebriated state when he notices there are people inside. It’s not just people, but people fucking. He’s frozen in the archway, watching from behind as this person (?) pounds into this other person (?) he fails to recognize them as humans because the one that’s topping has like. Red skin. And the one underneath is definitely translucent and purple or something.  
  
The one on top also is? Connected to the tubes in the walls, and holy shit, Taemin was not prepared for this, what the Fuck.  
  
Except when he’s about to fucking book it, the red one turns around to look at him, and that is Definitely Kyungsoo. It-? Kyungsoo? May be red and have three horns looking like a strange crown at the top of his forehead, but that is most definitely Kyungsoo looking at him. While he’s fucking someone else.  
  
Something tears inside of him and he wakes up, sweating.   
  
He takes one look at Kyungsoo, smells his arousal, and takes off, needing to leave, having to be somewhere else.  
  
  
Anywhere else.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
It’s between comp and jazz that he gets over it; moving his body in familiar arcs and angles gets him out of his headspace better than thrashing around the forest in frenzied panic could ever do.  
  
He doesn’t know why it freaked him out so much; was it because he was definitely in Kyungsoo’s dream, or because Kyungsoo was like.  Not remotely human. Was it sexual repulsion stuff?  
  
In any case, he didn’t want to dwell on it too much. His ace stuff was always so complicated and he always felt like he had more questions than answers when he tried to think about it, so he tries not to. He’s stretching before class starts when Jongin shows up, setting his shit by Taemin’s before coming over to knock shoulders.  
  
Jongin is sleepy and nonverbal like he is usually, especially any time before 5pm. Taemin responds by butting his forehead into Jongin’s neck. People used to think they were together, but that’s just how they are. Taemin’s known Jongin longer than Kyungsoo, not that they aren’t all best friends, but he and Jongin have always been the most comfortable with one another.   
  
The only reason he and Kyungsoo share a room is because when they’d first figured out housing, Kyungsoo’s only rule was that he couldn’t be in the same room as Chanyeol, their other roommate, because he snores like a fucking train and talks in his sleep. That left Taemin and Jongin, and Jongin sleeps like the dead, so it worked out that way. It’s fine anyway, Chanyeol is barely home anymore, too busy practicing his strange, never ending list of instruments or composing late into the night, usually ending up crashing at his datefriend Yixing’s place, since it’s closer to the music department.  
  
They’re going through the warm up routine and he catches Jongin looking at him through the mirror. He wonders if he would be considered the same now; someone who sleeps like they’re dead. Is he even alive? Is he a parasite? Are parasites alive?   
  
Their instructor claps from the side, and it’s Too Loud. “Taemin! Be present! Warm up is just as crucial as performing!”   
  
Taemin disagrees, but he tries to focus anyway.   
  
  
After, Jongin goes to lay across his lap, sweaty but uncaring as Taemin drinks some of his water. He could go for a feeding soon, but oddly, he doesn’t feel like feeding from Jongin, despite the proximity and how vulnerable his position is.  
  
It probably has something to do with how he still feels guilty that he hasn’t told him yet. Mind over matter or some shit. Or maybe his blood is like. Less nutritional or something because all he eats is junk food.  
  
As if Jongin can hear his thoughts, he turns over in his lap to look up at him, eyes wide in silent question.  
  
“What.”  
  
“Didn’t you just say something?”  
  
What. “No?”  
  
“Oh, I thought you were gonna tell me. The thing.”  
  
Taemin frowns, not knowing if Jongin just heard his thoughts or if Jongin is just playing and trying to guilt him into telling him already.  
  
Jongin frowns. “Why would I be guilting you, I’ll wait as long as you fucking need, asshole.”  
  
Taemin balks. “Dude I didn’t say that shit out loud.”  
  
Jongin’s eyes widen. “Is that the thing? You have superpowers now?”  
  
His voice lowers, because it’s doing the thing where it gets all high and loud because he’s excited. “Is that why your legs are cold as fuck.”  
  
Taemin makes to swat at Jongin’s face, and Jongin scrunches his nose in response, even though Taemin isn’t actually going to hit him.   
  
“Get up loser, I’ve got some shit going on you wouldn’t fucking believe.”  
  
  
  
  
Jongin nearly spits his strawberry milk tea out when Taemin tells him, coughing into the back of his hand because he nearly gets some boba stuck down the wrong pipe.   
  
Taemin could have maybe timed that better.   
  
They’re at the boba shop they frequent between jazz and barre. It’s right off campus, across the way from the dance studios, and even though it would be better for their sad wallets and probably their already warmed up bodies to suck it up and just go back to the dorms and make a snack instead of slouching around a counter inside a shop that probably blasts more air conditioning than they can probably really afford, they usually don’t because they have to be back at the studio in an hour, and both of them can’t be fucking bothered.  
  
Jongin recovers after a moment of hacking out his lungs, wiping his eyes with the inside of his wrist because he started tearing up in the process. What a mess. Taemin would snapchat it if they weren’t in the middle of an Important Conversation right now.  
  
“You good, dude?”  
  
“Wait, are you fucking serious. That’s so fucking cool hol-“ Jongin hiccups, “y shit, dude.”  
  
Taemin should have known Jongin would react like this. “What do you mean, ‘that’s so fucking cool’—did you forget the part where I like? Have to kill things?”   
  
Jongin looks up, as if realizing this just now. “Oh yeah.  Well.  Like.  As much as I hate like.  Killing things, I still like? Eat meat and shit?  Like that’s a little hypocritical of me, but like, I don’t think it’s that different, really.”  
  
Taemin takes a sip of his black milk tea, so glad that he can still have his favorite boba drink without wanting to puke or something because it isn’t blood. He guesses it’s not that much different than eating any other junk food as a human—despite it not really having much nutritional value for anyone’s body, people still consume it.  
  
“Except for the fact that it has to be like a fresh fucking kill for me,” Taemin snorts.  
  
Jongin shrugs a shoulder, spearing a piece of popcorn chicken with his toothpick before popping it into his mouth. “I guess.”   
  
Jongin pauses, as if something just occurred to him. “Wait, so like, do you really have superhuman powers and shit? Can you smell my blood?”  
  
“Yes, and yes. I like how I was freaking out about this whole thing and both of my best friends could like. Not even care less. You just want to know what my new powers are and Kyungsoo fucking offered himself if I like. Needed a quick drink or something. I need new saner friends.”  
  
Jongin scrunches his face up. “You wouldn’t make it two seconds out there without us.” Then, “You told Kyungsoo before me?”  
  
“I didn’t really have a choice, he like? Fucking followed me when I went to go feed and then went and attacked me, so.”  
  
Jongin doesn’t really seem like he’s listening, mumbling to himself. “I mean, I guess I’d also tell Kyungsoo first if he was in fucking love with me.”  
  
Taemin’s hand holding his boba jerks and some milk tea sloshes out through the straw. “Kyungsoo’s not fucking in love with me you assfuck, will you get over that shit? Both of us are aro and like. It’s not like that.”  
  
Jongin takes a sip of his milk tea, eyebrows drawn together as his lips purse around the straw, looking like the picture of Judgement. “Okay dude, but I love your nasty, bloodsucking guts, and I’m not out here stalking you because I’m worried about you, or offering my neck to you casually or some shit.”  
  
Taemin lifts a brow.  
  
“Okay. Fine. Maybe if you were like. Dying and really needed it to live,” Jongin concedes.  
  
“That’s better.”   
  
Taemin pauses, not wanting to say it, but Jongin’s always saying this shit.  
  
“Also, you and Kyungsoo just show you care differently, like. Kyungsoo takes care of you in ways that I don’t too. Like you’re not gonna catch me going out of my way to write out your finals schedule because your executive dysfunction stuff is making it really hard, or like, making food for you because I noticed you haven’t been eating because you’re too hyperfocused. Like. Kyungsoo just like has a sixth sense for these things. Why do you keep pushing this?”  
  
“Because I have a sixth sense about that shit. It’s not just? Stuff that Kyungsoo does for you either, both of you have like ridiculously repressed feelings for each other and it’s honestly. Painful to watch.”  
  
Taemin rolls his eyes, wanting Jongin to drop it already. He picks up a piece of popcorn chicken to toss at Jongin’s face.  
  
“Whatever, Jongin. Eat your fucking chicken.”  
  
  
  
  
  
They’re waiting for Kyungsoo to get back from rehearsal, Jongin trying to simultaneously eat ramen out of the pot and handle his controller, and Taemin hanging from the couch upside down while they play super smash bros.  
  
Taemin is clearly creaming Jongin’s Yoshi’s ass, no match for his Captain Falcon, especially when he’s playing with one hand, but Jongin seems determined to keep playing. He’s awful at giving up.  
  
He’s wondering why Kyungsoo’s out so late when he smells him coming down the hall, fingers stiffening on his controller, hit not only by the smell, but the memory of this morning, and Kyungsoo’s disinterested glance back at him during his dream.  
  
Jongin’s Yoshi kicks Captain Falcon off the stage and he dies, Jongin celebrating over his ramen.  
  
“Finally got you, loser.”  
  
Taemin huffs, trying not to breathe in too much. The closer Kyungsoo gets, the stronger the smell. “You just got lucky.”  
  
Then the door knob is jiggling and Kyungsoo’s coming in, carrying a couple grocery bags and calling out a vaguely derisive greeting. He dumps them on the island before looking into the fridge to get rid of what will inevitably be empty boxes of take-out and cartons of finished milk. Both Taemin and Jongin are really terrible about throwing things away after they’re finished because of task related executive dysfunction things.  
  
Kyungsoo walks over to the couch, right between where Taemin’s legs hang off of the back, hand dropping to rest on his thigh. “What are you losers up to, help me sort the fucking groceries.”  
  
Jongin looks at him from the floor, speaking around a mouthful of ramen. “Can we finish this game first?”  
  
“You paused it already, it’ll just take a second.”  
  
Taemin is a little surprised at how comfortable Kyungsoo’s being. He guesses Kyungsoo didn’t know he was watching him in his dream this morning, but then figures even if he was aware of It in his dream, which he probably wouldn’t be, he would have forgotten by now. Taemin never remembered his dreams when he was human.   
  
He grumbles when Kyungsoo pinches at his sides, upset that breathing through his mouth doesn’t make Kyungsoo’s blood any less intensely pleasant smelling. “C’mon, Taem.”  
  
“Why do you always ask us, you always get annoyed when we help because we always put shit in the wrong place.” Taemin’s complaining, but he’s reaching his arms up so that Kyungsoo can pull him up anyway.  
  
Jongin sighs from the floor, setting his chopsticks down across the top of the pot he was eating from, perpetually exasperated at how much his best friends act like a couple without either of them ever wanting to acknowledge it.  
  
“What’s the point of me having roommates that I feed and help keep alive if I can’t occasionally ask them to do shit for me?” Kyungsoo’s responding easily, hoisting Taemin up.  
  
Taemin pretends to go limp after he’s up, slouching over Kyungsoo’s shoulder, deciding there’s no point in making things awkward if Kyungsoo isn’t. Kyungsoo just picks him up and deposits him on the counter, by the groceries.   
  
“Get to it.”  
  
He’s about to go fetch Jongin from the floor before he stops, squeezing Taemin’s knee and whispering under his breath. “Speaking of feeding, did you still—?”  
  
Taemin swallows and nods. “I already.. I already told Jongin, you don’t have to keep it a secret anymore.”   
  
Kyungsoo nods, patting at his leg. “Good.”  
  
Jongin rolls his eyes from the floor.  
  
  
  
  
They’re sitting cross legged in front of each other, Jongin sitting on the side in case something starts going wrong and Kyungsoo can’t get Taemin off, which Kyungsoo laughs about, but doesn’t argue against.  
  
Taemin suspects that Jongin didn’t really volunteer to watch for Kyungsoo’s safety, but more for the sake of satisfying his curiosity. Which, Taemin also has no real problem with. He just wasn’t really expecting to have an audience.   
  
Kyungsoo’s looking at him expectantly, and Taemin feels his palms prickling, feeling provoked. “I don’t know how to start,” he admits.   
  
“You didn’t seem to have a problem attacking that poor water deer last time,” Kyungsoo deadpans.  
  
Taemin’s lip curls, disgusted. “You’re not a deer though, and I’m not trying to kill you.”  
  
“How do I miss everything,” Jongin mumbles.  
  
Kyungsoo ignores him. “Just. C’mere. If you don’t trust yourself, at least trust in my ability to get you off if I need to.”    
  
Catching himself after he says it, he turns his head to Jongin. “Don’t even fucking start, you heathen.”  
  
Jongin’s teeth click as he shuts his mouth, and Taemin is chuckling.  
  
“Did you just want to start with trying to do just like. Ten seconds? To test if you can stop?”  
  
Taemin pulls at his bottom lip with his fingers, nodding. “If that’s okay?”  
  
Kyungsoo bares his neck in response. Taemin’s hand moves to rest on Kyungsoo’s thigh to support his weight as he leans into his space, feeling strangely intimate like this. He hesitates, mouth hovering over the pulse point on Kyungsoo’s neck. “Um.”  
  
“Just fucking do it, Taemin.”  
  
He opens his mouth, and his teeth sink into Kyungsoo’s flesh, feeling him tense underneath him. Taemin trembles, eyes shooting open as he tries to maintain control, trying to focus on breathing. Human blood is infinitely more satisfying than deer blood.   
  
The cloying smell of Kyungsoo’s blood that makes him feel like he’s going to choke on the aroma when he’s not drinking from him shifts to something ambrosial when it’s in his mouth, and he sucks harder, trying to get more of it down his throat.   
  
Before he knows it, Kyungsoo is squeezing at his side. “Time,” he stutters, sounding.. weak? Affected?  
  
Taemin whines, before Kyungsoo pinches at his hip with his knuckles, yipping at the pain as he pulls off. Kyungsoo flicks his forehead.   
  
“Bad bloodsucker.”  
  
Jongin shrugs beside them. “I think he let go within pretty good time, honestly, this is a lot tamer than I thought it’d be. It’s more like I’m watching Taemin make out with your neck than seeing a vampire feed. I lowkey thought he was gonna turn on me next, and we’d get to see Taem all like. Blood crazy and shit.”  
  
Taemin’s lip curls as he turns to look at Jongin. “Your blood doesn’t even smell good, loser. It’s all the shitty food you eat. You smell even less appetizing than the deer.”  
  
Jongin’s hands come up to hold his face, pulling him closer to examine his eyes. “Dude! Your eyes are all red and shit, holy shit!”  
  
Kyungsoo snorts. “Leave it to Jongin to not even be offended despite being told to his face that he would make a poor meal.”  
  
Taemin’s fingers curl on Kyungsoo’s lap, twisting out of Jongin’s grip to look at him. “Can I go again? You taste, so good.”  
  
Jongin cringes. “Can we maybe, leave the bedroom talk for when Joni is like, Not here.”   
  
Kyungsoo swats a hand in Jongin’s direction. “Shut the fuck up.”  
  
Taemin watches as Kyungsoo’s blood beads up where he hadn’t closed the puncture wounds yet, not really paying attention.   
  
“Did you want to go for a little longer this time? Twenty seconds?”   
  
Kyungsoo waves his hand in front of Taemin’s eyes when he doesn’t respond. “Yes? No?”  
  
“Uh. What? Yes.  Yes.” Taemin guesses that being a vampire doesn’t absolve him from audio processing delays, especially when he’s hyperfocused on important things. Like Kyungsoo’s blood.  
  
Kyungsoo’s stopping him before he can fit his mouth back over where he’s bitten down though. “Jongin, can you help me keep count? It’s a little hard to count when blood is coming out of your body and Taemin’s using his weird inside your brain vampire trance magic.”  
  
Jongin nods. “Gotchu”  
  
Then Kyungsoo’s hand is out of the way and Taemin looks back up at Kyungsoo for silent confirmation before going again.  
  
This time, he’s a little greedier, pressing further into Kyungsoo’s space as he sucks down mouthful after mouthful, knowing he’s only got twenty seconds. It feels much longer this time for some reason, and he’s starting to feel almost dizzy from bloodlust, the near-drunk feeling he’d experienced in Kyungsoo’s dream starting to return.  
  
He hears a moan building from Kyungsoo’s chest, low and quiet, before it stops. Taemin just wants to chase it, hand lifting to travel up Kyungsoo’s thigh before Jongin is calling time. He gently pries his teeth out of Kyungsoo’s flesh, licking over the wounds as he pants against his neck.  
  
“That was a cleaner break,” Jongin comments. “Our Taemin, he’s growing up..”  
  
Taemin turns to glare at him, still panting. “Shut the fuck up.”  
  
Jongin’s eyes widen. “Why are your eyes like? Purple now? Do they just change the more blood you have? Are you full? How does that work?”  
  
Taemin shakes his head, far from full. “I could go for more, but I don’t know if we should do too much at once..” Taemin also doesn’t know if he can restrain himself anymore today—he doesn’t know if he’s aroused or what, but something.. something is happening that he isn’t sure Kyungsoo wants right now.  
  
Kyungsoo is silent, taking a swig of his gatorade. He’s probably feeling a little dehydrated.   
  
Jongin nods, lips pursing as he thinks about it. “That’s probably a good idea.  Baby steps and shit.”  
  
Taemin nods back. “Baby steps.”  
  
Taemin doesn’t fall asleep that night, thinking about what could have happened if Jongin hadn’t been there.  
  
  
  
  
  
“I can’t believe Kyungsoo can still whoop your ass even though you’re not even human anymore,” Jongin clucks before taking a sip of his strawberry milk tea.   
  
He’s gesticulating with his milk tea, the boba pearls sloshing around as he does so. “Like, not even just not human, like you’re supposed to have like mad superhuman vampire powers and be able to control our minds and shit.”  
  
Taemin sighs. They’re at their boba shop again, between classes, and it’s been a week or so since Taemin started feeding from Kyungsoo. Jongin still watches, and he’s gotten a lot better about controlling himself, but one time he got a little taken away, and Kyungsoo had to go and jab at a pressure point at his throat, at which point he sunk to the floor like a motherfucker. That was embarrassing, but it’s good to know Kyungsoo can always call it off if Taemin’s getting out of hand.  
  
Jongin’s looking at him thoughtfully. “You know, you only project your thoughts when you’re not around Kyungsoo, did you know that?”  
  
Taemin frowns. “I can’t even tell when I’m letting you hear me, how the fuck am I supposed to figure out what specific conditions I have to be in to know if you can hear me or not.”  
  
Jongin hums. “It’s just interesting, that’s all.. It’s not like you and Kyungsoo aren’t close, either.”  
  
Taemin chews at his bottom lip, not knowing exactly what Jongin’s insinuating, but feeling uncomfortable about it anyway.  
  
It’s not like he’s purposefully trying to shut Kyungsoo out or something.  
  
  
  
  
Taemin’s home alone, because despite the fact that they have the same last class, Jongin had to stay behind in the studio for rehearsal for this semester’s ballet production, which Taemin thankfully is not involved in. He’s busy enough with the eastern dance department’s production where he’s already secured positions for a couple solos. It sucks when they’re not practicing together, but there are areas where their stylistic interests vary, and that’s okay too. It’s what makes Jongin, Jongin, and Taemin, Taemin.  
  
He’s trying to decide between watching anime or seeing if Jimin is free to come play videogames when he smells Kyungsoo coming down the hallway. He’d worry about how creepy it is to be able to smell someone you essentially want to cannibalize from inhuman distances, but he’s too busy looking for shit to make him look like he’s been occupied to think about it too much, turning on the tv and opening a book that was left upside down on its face to mark the page.   
  
Kyungsoo’s calling out a soft “Hey” as he toes off his shoes, going to where Taemin’s frowning at the page he’s pretending to read and dumping his backpack on the other couch before going to sit on the one Taemin’s sitting on.   
  
“Hey,” Taemin responds, setting the book down.  
  
Kyungsoo’s eyes follow his hands. “Is there any reason why you’re reading my Philo text and-” he pauses to frown at the television, “watching golf? You hate golf.”  
  
Taemin curls up, tucking his legs into his chest and laying his cheek on one of his drawn-up knees. “Jongin didn’t come home with me, I didn’t know what to do.”   
  
Kyungsoo tilts his head a little, thinking. “Rehearsal?”  
  
Taemin nods, cheek still on his knee. Kyungsoo thinks it’s very endearing.  
  
“I already ate, so, if you wanted to try, without Jongin, I’d be up for it,” Kyungsoo tries, and Taemin feels awful for hoping that was exactly what Kyungsoo was going to say.  
  
He hasn’t really initiated any of the feedings himself, not wanting to force himself on Kyungsoo, but now it just feels like Kyungsoo is babysitting him because Taemin can’t tell him when he needs to feed or not.   
  
Although, it doesn’t exactly help his instincts that he’s been learning to hold his breath for longer when Kyungsoo’s around so he isn’t just constantly thinking about how mouthwatering his blood smells.  
  
“I mean, Jongin is bound to be busy some other time when you have to feed, might as well test your restraint now, right?” Kyungsoo’s question is simple enough, and he figures it doesn’t make sense to make it any more complicated, so he nods. Besides, he probably did need to feed anyway.  
  
He untucks his legs, moving to crawl over to Kyungsoo, feeling something supremely satisfying about how Kyungsoo just bares his neck for him. His vampire instincts are probably elated that he has such an easy and dependable foodsource. The thought is repulsing, but he’s leaning into Kyungsoo’s space anyways, inhaling deeply at the junction of Kyungsoo’s neck and collar.  
  
He can hate himself later, he thinks, sinking his fangs into Kyungsoo’s flesh.   
  
Kyungsoo wraps his fingers around Taemin’s wrist, their new method of communicating what Kyungsoo needs; if he squeezes, it means stop, if he rubs his thumb on the inside of his wrist, it means to go gentler. It’s been working so far, and Taemin is slowly starting to feel confident that he won’t supremely fuck up or attack Kyungsoo, which was what he was initially scared of.  
  
He’s starting to slip back into the floaty headspace he gets into when he’s feeding when their front door opens and Chanyeol comes through, taking his obnoxious over-the-ear headphones off, announcing that he’s home. Taemin’s pulling off, trying to discreetly lick the wounds close.  
  
“It’s not-I can explain-“  
  
Chanyeol’s shaking his head, hands up. “Nah, it’s cool, I always figured the two of you would.. You know.”   
  
He’s toeing off his shoes, setting his keys and stuff on the counter. Kyungsoo’s letting out a breath and Taemin can tell that he’s irritated, but doesn’t know why. Does the thought of being with Taemin like that bother him that much?  
  
Kyungsoo turns to look over at Chanyeol, pulling his lips between his teeth before puffing them out, a thing he does when he’s annoyed or bored. Taemin tries not to watch his mouth as he speaks.  
  
“It’s really not. Are you back tonight, or are you just getting shit.”  
  
Chanyeol tilts his head over to his and Jongin’s room, shucking his shoes off. “Just getting shit. I’ll probably be back this weekend though, I’m sorry I’ve been so m.i.a; this semester is just killing me, I really haven’t been getting much sleep anywhere.”  
  
Kyungsoo’s head falls back against the back of the couch, eyes closing as he nods. “I know the fucking feeling. That was me last sem.”  
  
Taemin has to force his eyes back up from where they automatically flick to Kyungsoo’s throat.  
  
“Anyway, I’ll just be in and out, I’ve got to drop some shit off later because my music locker is honestly about to burst, so I could pick up some food if you guys want?”  
  
Kyungsoo hums, head tilting to squint at Taemin, as if considering him. “Yeah, maybe bring a lil something back. In case this one or Jongin gets hungry.”  
  
Chanyeol salutes them, heading for his room.  
  
“Got it, dudes.”  
  
Taemin vaguely wonders if he and Kyungsoo will ever be alone so he can feed in peace.   
  
\--  
  
His chance comes about a week later. They’re on the train back to campus, having gone out to celebrate because Kyungsoo and Jongin’s datefriend Jonghyun placed in their department’s semester showcase for their duet. It seemed like an especially cutthroat audition, so going out after was a little necessary.   
  
Jonghyun got a little too smashed though, giggling and unable to keep hirself upright on the train. It’s amusing to watch, but Taemin feels a little bad for Jongin, who just seems a little overwhelmed with keeping his datefriend from embarrassing hirself.   
  
Jonghyun suddenly shoots up, hands reaching up for Taemin, who’s standing in front of hir because there weren’t any seats left. He leans down when Jonghyun makes it clear sie wants to tell him a secret.   
  
Sie’s not very quiet, whisper-shouting, “Bite me, dracula oppa,” into his cheek before collapsing into Jongin’s lap in a fit of giggles.   
  
Taemin looks around apologetically at onlookers, mouthing that sie had a little too much to drink, missing the look on Kyungsoo’s face as he clenches his jaw.  
  
  
  
They have to part ways when they get back to campus, Jonghyun insisting that sie wants to go back to hir dorm and that sie’s fine, despite the fact that it would not only be unsafe but highly improbable that sie would be able to make it back to hir dorm room on hir own.  
  
Jongin is waving over his shoulder as they leave, and Jonghyun is blowing kisses at both Kyungsoo and Taemin. Oh Jonghyun.  
  
Taemin is chuckling, and Kyungsoo is gently tugging at his wrist to head to the stairs, letting out a sigh. “Jonghyun should really fucking pace hirself a little better.”  
  
Taemin shrugs. “I mean, sometimes it’s nice to get sloshed, I guess.”   
  
Kyungsoo lifts a brow at him. “Yeah, when that was the point of going out. It might be the weekend now, but we’ve got hella rehearsals tomorrow and Sunday. Sie’s gonna regret having to deal with a fucking hangover while we’re trying to do our runs.”  
  
Taemin lets out a put-upon sigh, eyes rolling. “As per usge, you’re right and I shouldn’t have said anything.”  
  
Kyungsoo’s face scrunches when he smiles. It’s cute. “Our little demonchild is finally learning!”  
  
He knocks his shoulder into Kyungsoo’s, and even though he’s expecting it, he still yelps when Kyungsoo pinches him in the side.  
  
Instead of settling on the couch or someone’s bed when they get back, Kyungsoo shoos Taemin to the window, opening it and stepping out after him onto the fire escape there.  
  
They settle by the railing, legs dangling as they look out over the quad.  
  
“Romantic,” Taemin comments, lifting his chin to gesture at the moon. Aro joke.  
  
Kyungsoo laughs, just soft exhales.   
  
“I always thought you were a lot like the moon,” Kyungsoo starts, turning his head so he’s looking at Taemin, temple against the railing, expression sincere, although he’s hiding a smile and it’s pulling at his lips.  
  
Taemin shoves at his leg, huffing out a breath as his face scrunches at the cringe. “Shut the fuck up, Do Kyungsoo.”  
  
The schooled expression breaks and Kyungsoo’s eyes are curving when he laughs, little giggles he tries to hide behind his wrist. Honestly, Kyungsoo would make a wicked actor.   
  
Kyungsoo licks over his bottom lip, eyes closing as he lays his head against the railing. Kyungsoo has this way about being vulnerable and open with Taemin that makes him feel really conflicted. Even though Kyungsoo has proven that he can handle himself several times over if Taemin gets out of control, it’s just so honest and trusting. Taemin doesn’t know if he deserves that trust.  
  
Kyungsoo cracks one of his eyes open, as if he just thought of something, peeking out at the moon through the railings.   
  
“Are you just a weird vampire, or do you think the thing about vampires not being able to go out during the day is bogus.”  
  
The railings cast shadows across Kyungsoo’s skin, and if Taemin had an eye for anything other than movement, he’d say it would make a nice picture.   
  
He looks up, thinking for a moment. “To be fair, I still don’t really spend that much time outside during the day because I don’t really have to go outside to get to the dance studio. Plus, even when I was human I still was really sensitive to sunlight.”  
  
Kyungsoo presses a finger into his bottom lip. “So maybe bogus, but still plausible because we don’t have much evidence about if you can or can’t. Okay.”  
  
Taemin lifts a finger, as if remembering a point Kyungsoo missed. “We also don’t really have experienced vampire friends who know what’s up to ask, don’t forget that.”  
  
Kyungsoo hums. “True. I think we’re doing okay though.”  
  
Taemin nods. He’s gotten better about asking now, not always waiting on Kyungsoo to offer, although he felt like he was feeding more frequently than he’s meant to, so he’s started doing supplementary feedings throughout the week from the forest again.  
  
“Speaking of that, it’s been a good couple of days since you’ve fed last, I’ve been so busy with this audition. Did you want?”  
  
Did Taemin want?   
  
It’s honestly an absurd question because Taemin’s entire existence as of late has been characterized by constantly wanting and having to learn to control himself around humans, especially Kyungsoo, since he’s so willing to let Taemin feed from him. Taemin’s running theory is that his body is attuned to Kyungsoo’s bloodscent because he’s tasted it before.  
  
Despite this, he responds casually, shrugging a shoulder. “Maybe a little.”  
  
A little impish grin is tugging at his lips though, and Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at him, letting out an amused but exasperated breath before straightening, tilting his head to bare his neck the way he’s accustomed to by now. “Get on with it, then.”  
  
Taemin reaches out to tilt his head to the other side, finger on Kyungsoo’s jaw. “Wanna see if the other side tastes any different,” he explains, fangs glinting as he smiles, poking his tongue out at him.  
  
Kyungsoo just snorts, shaking his head. Why does he have to make this so easy? Nothing about Kyungsoo is simple, but he makes things feel so much more straightforward than Taemin feels they are.  
  
He moves to fit his mouth over the pulse point on this side of Kyungsoo’s neck, hovering. “Good?”  
  
Kyungsoo nods, swallowing. It’s such a satisfying sound, Taemin nearly forgets to question it. But then he’s pulling back to look Kyungsoo in the eyes. “Really?”  
  
Instead of really answering, Kyungsoo fixes him with a disinterested look before wrapping his hand around the back of Taemin’s neck to bring him back.  
  
“Just get on with it already.”  
  
So Taemin bites down, relishing in the familiar taste of Kyungsoo, something that’s grown to be both comforting and intoxicating for him.  
  
He can taste the alcohol in Kyungsoo’s blood; he didn’t have much to drink earlier, but it’s there, making it a taste a little sharper, a little more bitter.   
  
He doesn’t know if he would say he prefers it to Kyungsoo’s blood alone, but it’s good. He pulls off for a moment, being careful to not tear Kyungsoo’s skin any more open as he widens his jaw to extract his fangs.  
  
“You know, I can taste the alcohol in your blood, I wonder if I could get drunk if you-“ Taemin stops because as he sits back on his haunches, he notices Kyungsoo looks a little flushed.  
  
“Are you dehydrated? I can get you some water, or see if we have any gatorades left in the fridge-”  
  
“No, I’m good, just. Get on with it.”  
  
“Okay then.” Taemin leans back in, shifting his weight back onto his arm by Kyungsoo’s side, gingerly biting into Kyungsoo’s neck, feeling him tense up a little.  
  
He resumes drinking, tongue dipping out to catch any errant drops of blood as he sucks greedily. Not that he has much experience with human blood besides Kyungsoo, but there’s something about it that makes time slow down, his nerve endings feeling like they’re set alight.  
  
He doesn’t know if it’s the proximity, or something about how warm Kyungsoo’s neck is, or how pliant Kyungsoo is during feedings, but something about feeding from him inevitably shifts from bloodlust to sexual desire, and his fingers curl tightly against the floor of the landing at the telltale warmth beginning to pool in his groin.  
  
He’s trying to push away his feelings of arousal when he hears what sounds a lot like a moan escaping Kyungsoo’s throat.  
  
Taemin pulls off, licking the wounds shut before sitting back, noticing that Kyungsoo’s breathing is a little labored, and that he’s hard in his jeans.  
  
Oh.  
  
Before he really knows that he’s saying it, it comes out. “Did you want me to help with that?”  
  
It’s not that he’s never noticed that Kyungsoo isn’t like. Attractive before; he’d definitely be a hypocrite if he said the past few feedings didn’t pique his sexual interest. It’s just that they’re.. friends. But if it’s mutual, this could… potentially work out for everyone.  
  
Kyungsoo’s blinking dazedly at him, as if he didn’t process what he just said for a moment before he tilts his head. “Would.. would that be okay?”  
  
Taemin nods, leaning back in to brush his lips over the healing puncture wounds on Kyungsoo’s neck. “Is it because I’m feeding on you?”  
  
He reaches down, feeling Kyungsoo’s stomach clench as his hand slides down over it. Kyungsoo’s voice is a little strained. “It’s probably got something to do with it-“ his voice cuts off with choked moan as Taemin grabs him through his jeans.  
  
“Fuck,” Kyungsoo breathes out, head tilting back.   
  
Taemin flicks the button of Kyungsoo’s jeans open the same moment he sinks his teeth back into Kyungsoo’s flesh.  
  
  
  
They end up fucking on the counter in the kitchen, after Kyungsoo complains about feeling faint, Taemin grinding on him while he rehydrates.   
  
At some point while he’s riding Kyungsoo’s dick, Kyungsoo grips his thigh, realizing something. “Dude, fuck, Taem, we’re not using any fucking protection, fuck—“   
  
Taemin just drops back down on him, squeezing around him. “I’m like, pretty sure I can’t contract or give any human diseases anymore, and I was clean before I turned, so.”  
  
Kyungsoo isn’t convinced, but then Taemin makes this sound, and he forgets why it’s important, anyway.   
  
Later, instead of getting all the way to their room, they fuck against their doorway, Taemin fucking up into Kyungsoo, who has his legs wrapped around Taemin’s waist, arms slung over his shoulders. Kyungsoo is so warm around him, and he kind of never wants to leave.   
  
  
  
They devolve into a strange nameless relationship space where they casually fuck sometimes, which usually begins as a feeding, and then ends up with someone’s dick in someone’s mouth. Or ass.   
  
It’s nice.  
  
They don’t have to call it anything, it’s casual and fun, both of them aren’t ro so there’s no risk of like. Weird extra feelings, and it’s not an especially big Thing, so their friendship doesn’t have to be jeopardized. It’s great.  
  
Even if Jongin doesn’t seem to think so.  
  
They’re waiting out the lull between jazz and barre at the boba shop again, and Jongin is staring at him like he just said something especially daft.   
  
“What, so like. Yall’re fucking, okay, but, it’s not like a queerplatonic thing, it’s just like. A friends with benefits thing?”  
  
Taemin nods, taking another sip of his boba, curling his hands into a fist on the table when he notices they’re shaking.   
  
“I mean, it’s working out for us? I don’t know. It doesn’t have to be like. A Thing. Kyungsoo doesn’t like, like me like that, you know? And I feel like that would make things more complicated anyway, if it was a thing. It’s fine-“  
  
Jongin sighs at him. “Is it? I don’t know if what you guys have going on wouldn’t be considered complicated, what with-“  
  
Jongin stops himself, as if remembering something he’s not meant to divulge.   
  
“What with what?” Taemin asks, curious now.  
  
“You know what- it’s not my fucking business. Yall’re consenting adults, do whatever the fuck you want. It’s not like your mutual best friend has to deal with your bullshit every single fucking day, and how you both fucking orbit each other. What do I know?” Jongin snaps, angrily sucking down on his drink.  
  
“I’m-“ Taemin starts, before his shaking hand tears through the cup of milk tea he has in his hand, ripping a hole through the side, and he’s flinging it onto the table so it doesn’t get all over his clothes (he wouldn’t care that much, but he’s really trying not to change into another outfit for barre, and he doesn’t want to have to do any more laundry than he has to, and having vampire reflexes helps with these things).  
  
“Dude, what the fuck?” Jongin balks at him, eyes flicking over to the still leaking crushed mess of milk tea and boba and plastic on the table.   
  
Taemin reaches for the napkins, mopping up what he can before ducking his head apologetically at the shop owner, who is looking over with concern.  
  
“I don’t fucking know, my hands are like. Spastic right now, I don’t know what the fuck it is.”  
  
Jongin sets down his milk tea. “Dude. Have you been feeding from anything but Kyungsoo lately?”  
  
Taemin tries to think back to the last time he’s been to the forest, and can’t really remember anytime recently that he’s gone. He’s been so busy with rehearsals lately, and Kyungsoo is always a text away. He shakes his head.  
  
“No, why?”  
  
“You’ve been a lot twitchier than normal, like I thought it was just stimmy stuff, but like, you don’t usually lose muscle control when you have to stim like _that_.” Jongin stares pointedly at the decimated milk tea cup in the mess of mushy napkins.  
  
Taemin just stares, starting to get irritated, because why can’t Jongin ever just fucking get to the point. “And?”  
  
“And, you’ve been feeding kind of a lot? I like. Thought it was just because you were stressed out from rehearsal, and maybe you and Kyungsoo finally admitted you guys have a Thing, or something, but-“  
  
“Will you just fucking drop that already?” Jongin needs to fucking get off his ass about that shit.  
  
“Listen, dude, like. I might have only taken one sem of psych, but I’m pretty sure getting extra fidgety and twitchy and like irritable are symptoms of addiction.”  
  
“I’M NOT FUCKING IRRITABLE!”   
  
The boba shop seems to go quiet then, everyone in the sparsely populated shop halting mid-conversation to stare at him.  
  
Jongin just looks up at him, from where he’s sitting, eyes flicking down to his legs, where Taemin had stood up in frustration.  
  
He might have a point.  
  
  
Despite the fact that he has been feeling more irritated and fidgety when he hasn’t been feeding, he figures it’s due to stress, and he probably just needs to feed more.  
  
Instead of heading back to the dorm with Jongin, he decides to head out to the forest to feed. If Jongin’s right, it would be a good idea to vary his diet a little, and even if he isn’t right, Taemin probably needs to feed more than Kyungsoo can honestly provide.  
  
He finds a wild boar about to dig through a nearby trashcan and gets it into a trance state, falling into feeding frenzy almost immediately, not even conscious as he rips out its throat.  
  
  
  
Kyungsoo and Jongin find Taemin sprawled out on the forest floor, a good mile out from campus covered in blood and vomit, an elk carcass nearby, having gotten worried when Taemin hadn’t turned up after several hours without a heads up to either of them.  
They rinse his mouth off as best as they can, Kyungsoo asking Jongin to help prop Taemin up, so he can feed from him.  
  
“Soo, did it not register to you that he just threw all of this blood up, why the fuck would he need to feed anymore?”  
  
“I just have a feeling, okay? Just- help me, asshole, he could fucking die.”  
  
“Which is why! We shouldn’t fucking risk it!”  
  
“Do you know any fucking vampire doctors we can go see to help us? Got any better fucking ideas? No? Then get off your ass and help me!”  
  
Jongin reluctantly lifts Taemin, dragging him out of the puddle of vomit with a grimace, propping him up in front of Kyungsoo. “I swear to god, if you kill my best friend, Kyungsoo.”  
  
Kyungsoo’s about to snap that Taemin’s his best friend, too, when Taemin moans quietly, smelling Kyungsoo near. His hand reaches out weakly to curl a shaking fist into his shirt.  
  
Kyungsoo looks, alarmed, between Taemin and Jongin, and Jongin gestures with his chin that he should get on with it.  
  
He lifts his finger to Taemin’s mouth, piercing his finger on one of his bottom fangs. Taemin, barely conscious, sucks eagerly on his finger, grip tightening on Kyungsoo’s shirt.  
  
After a while, he has enough strength to move to Kyungsoo’s neck, sucking hungrily.  
  
  
Jongin has to carry him out of the dense part of the forest, but by the time they get out into the clearing, Taemin can walk on his own, though Kyungsoo doesn’t let go of him.   
  
When they get back to their dorm room, they take turns watching him while they shower but realize that Taemin still has to get rinsed off.   
  
He’s conscious now, and a little annoyed at the babying. Kyungsoo ushers him into the bathroom, peeling off his shirt and flinging it with disgust onto the pile in the sink before he runs water over it. He’ll get to it later.  
  
“I can shower by myself, I’m not a fucking child—“  
  
Kyungsoo rubs the towel on his head briskly to dry his hair some before letting it fall to his shoulders. “You might as well be a fucking child, not fucking letting us know where you were other than telling Jongin you’ll fucking ‘be back later’, you fucking asswipe.”  
  
“I don’t fucking sound like that-“  
  
“You sound however the fuck I think you sound right now! Fucking asshole. What were you going to do if I didn’t know to track your phone on that shitty app you used when you lost your phone all those times on your laptop? What if I didn’t know your laptop password?”  
  
Kyungsoo’s voice is getting a little hysterical, and he’s shoving Taemin into the shower. Taemin would be lying if this wasn’t a little amusing, even though Kyungsoo is clearly furious with him.  
  
He’s naked, and Kyungsoo is almost naked, yelling at him because he was worried about him. Something about this situation was just? Really funny?  
  
“What the fuck are you smiling about, you piece of shit, I thought you were going to fucking Die-“  
  
Taemin pulls off the towel around his neck, tossing it onto the floor. “But I didn’t die, did I?”  
  
“What do you think you’re doing, you sneaky bastard.”  
  
“If you’re going to be watching me shower, you might as well join me..”  
  
Kyungsoo’s towel hits the floor the same moment the water comes on.  
  
\--  
  
Kyungsoo has a pen cap in his mouth, pad of paper in his lap as he stares at Taemin’s schedule on his laptop, while Taemin sits unhelpfully by his side.  
  
They’re trying to figure out how to tackle Taemin’s ‘addiction’; scheduling feedings out so that Kyungsoo doesn’t get bled out trying to deal with Taemin’s shitty withdrawal stuff, not trying to wean him off completely, but just trying to pace it out while also slowly starting to incorporate small amounts of other kinds of blood so he doesn’t get sick if he needs to feed on something other than Kyungsoo.  
  
Kyungsoo is filling out some chart he’s made on the pad of paper, checking Taemin’s schedule occasionally and making adjustments.   
  
The sound comes out a little muffled when he speaks because he still has the pen cap in his mouth. “See, I told you that nutrition class Jongin and I are taking would come in handy one day, here we are, managing your addiction to me.”  
  
Kyungsoo meant it as a joke, breathy laughs coming out as he goes to switch a feeding time, adding a note to that block to make sure Taemin gets a little ‘other’ blood.  
  
Taemin can only hum blankly in response, a hollow feeling starting in the pit of his stomach. Even if Kyungsoo wasn’t being serious, there’s a lot of truth to his statement. He can’t depend on Kyungsoo like this, it’s unhealthy—it’s literally an addiction. He can’t be this attached to Kyungsoo, it’s not fair to him; what’s going to happen when Kyungsoo moves on? What happens after uni? He can’t fucking follow Kyungsoo around forever, they have their own lives to live, different career paths, and Kyungsoo will eventually move away, or settle down with someone else, or just realize he’s better off not dealing with a fucking bloodsucking deadweight.   
  
  
That night, he slips into dream-state, finding himself in a strange rickety house. The air is both strangely sweet and musky, and there are lots of different crystals and minerals and strange little vials of things in the room he’s in.  
  
“Hey, Taemin?”  
  
He’s stuck in the room he’s in until Kyungsoo is calling out for him again, then he’s walking over to where Kyungsoo’s setting a book down, tucking something—a stick? A wand? Into his sleeve. Honestly what is with Kyungsoo’s dreams.   
  
Then Kyungsoo is pushing him into the couch, mouth on his, and Taemin, well, Taemin can’t complain about that. Dream sex is cool, because he can feel what Kyungsoo’s feeling, since he’s tapping into a world he’s made, informed by his experiences and feelings.   
  
It’s really heady, feeling Kyungsoo’s pleasure as well as his own, despite it just being inside of their heads. Would this be considered inside of his head when he’s inside Kyungsoo’s? He doesn’t have too much time to think about it, because Kyungsoo is kissing down his unbuttoned shirt—since when did he wear gingham—and slipping down to the floor, his cloak? Tunic? Whatever the fuck he’s wearing right now, drops to the floor behind him with a clang, pooling around his ankles.   
  
Kyungsoo is packing some serious shit in that cloak he’s wearing, Taemin vaguely thinks before Kyungsoo’s hand is on him, leaning forward to mouth at his clothed dick. Soon enough, Kyungsoo has him out of his jeans, pillowy lips wrapped around his cock, eyes closed as he works his mouth over him.   
  
Taemin has his head laid back along the top of the couch, eyes cracked open to watch Kyungsoo swallow him down, eyes closing and brows drawing together when Kyungsoo nearly pulls off, sucking playfully at the head as his tongue peeks out lick up underneath. Jesus fucking Christ.   
  
Before he knows it, he’s getting close, groaning through grit teeth. He catches Kyungsoo looking up at him through his eyelashes, eyes half mast, and unbidden, the image of Kyungsoo fucking someone else in his dream all that time back burns through his mind’s eye. He spills into Kyungsoo’s mouth, feeling hollow and empty.   
  
The tearing feeling is welcome this time, and he wakes, staring up at the ceiling with a bad taste in his mouth.  
  
  
Taemin takes to avoiding Kyungsoo except for their scheduled feedings, trying to distance himself emotionally by distancing himself physically.  
  
If he’s still hung up on a dream Kyungsoo had nearly two months ago, he’s clearly got some kind of shitty emotional attachment shit he has to work on. He makes Kyungsoo’s life more complicated than it needs to be as is, he doesn’t deserve to deal with Taemin’s shitty emotional hang ups on top of that.  
  
Jongin is the first to notice, seeing how Taemin retreats to his room when he smells Kyungsoo coming down the hall, falling off the couch in frustration when Taemin responds to Kyungsoo reaching out to him curtly.  
  
Taemin isn’t up to discussing it with Jongin either, ignoring him and going to hole himself up in their room instead of going to lounge around at the boba shop between classes, knowing Jongin will pry.  
  
  
It comes to a head during a scheduled feeding, which he can’t really avoid if he’s trying to get any better and work towards being independent of Kyungsoo at some point.   
  
Kyungsoo’s sitting cross legged in front of him, picking at the lint on his sweatpants, not as a stimmy thing, which was usual for him, but out of nervousness.   
  
“Hey, are… are we okay?”   
  
Kyungsoo’s voice is really soft, and low, but there’s something really vulnerable about it. Taemin steels himself, shrugging a shoulder. “Why wouldn’t we be?”  
  
“It.. it feels like you’re avoiding me, and I don’t know why?  What did I do?” Kyungsoo’s brows are drawn together, and seeing him concerned makes Taemin irritated.  
  
“You didn’t do anything—you never do anything wrong,” Taemin mutters.  
  
“Is it because… we haven’t like? Talked about us? Because I was meaning to ask—”  
  
Something snaps inside Taemin, because, ”There’s no fucking us, we’re not a thing, never were a thing, just. Fucking let it go!”   
  
He’s yelling and he regrets it as soon as he says it, Kyungsoo just staring at him, looking wounded before he gets up without a word, getting a pillow and a blanket from his bed and storming out of their room for Jongin’s, slamming the door.  
  
He doesn’t sleep that night, climbing out the window and sitting out of the fire escape and wondering why he ever opens his mouth.  
  
  
  
  
They’re at the café next door, rather than the boba shop, because they probably need to give the shop owner a little break, and they are also not entirely sure if they’re welcome back after Taemin’s outburst last time.  
  
Jongin takes a sip of his strawberry iced tea, looking disdainfully at Taemin’s iced coffee. He hates things that are remotely bitter.   
  
“So, you wanna tell me why Kyungsoo came into my room last night with a pillow and a blanket cursing your name?”  
  
Taemin tosses his phone onto the table carelessly, and it clatters, traveling a little before stopping. “Why, he didn’t tell you himself?”  
  
Jongin fixes him with a look that either says, ‘He did, but now it’s your turn to tell me your side,’ or ‘he didn’t, why the fuck would I be asking you if he did.’ Either way, Jongin’s not going to let him avoid this.  
  
Jongin smiles like he acknowledges Taemin’s assessment of The Look, which he probably is. “Fess up.”  
  
“Okay, okay, fuck, fine.” Taemin squirms a little, stimming with his shirt sleeve, pulling the fabric between his fingers repeatedly.  
  
He lets out a sigh. “I like. I fucked up, I said something really shitty, and like. I didn’t mean to tell Kyungsoo, but like. It just came out?”  
  
The hurt look on Kyungsoo’s face just keeps haunting him, and he always has a hard time getting words out about his feelings, and it’s really not helping.  
  
Jongin’s brows are drawn together, eyes closed as his hand comes up to rub his knuckles at his forehead, as if he’s trying to stim away a bad memory. “Okay, but, but what did you say to make Kyungsoo look like that.”  
  
“Am I projecting my thoughts again?”  
“Yeah, motherfucker, now answer the question.” Kyungsoo _had_ told Jongin a little about how Taemin is a fucking asshole, but didn’t really get to what Taemin had actually _said_.  
“I um. I kind of yelled, and-“  
“You yelled at Kyungsoo?” Jongin looks flabbergasted, because Taemin like. Doesn’t actually seriously yell at people, and No One yells at Kyungsoo.  
  
“Yes, I fucking yelled!” Taemin snaps, scowling. Jongin thinks Taemin has been really nippy lately, and it’s not a good look.  
  
Taemin pinches his bottom lip before speaking again, a habit he’s picked up from Jongin. “Anyway, I may have said something about how we aren’t a thing, and never will be and that he should let it go-”  
  
“You _what_?” Jongin is almost spitting at him, because Holy Shit. “Why the fuck would you say that?!”  
  
“I dont know!” Taemin runs a hand through his hair, legs drawing up to his chest. “I just- it just came out?”  
  
“Do you have any fucking idea how shitty Kyungsoo feels right now-”  
  
“I know it was a shitty thing to say, okay! I just, I already feel so shitty about feeding from him, and like, I fucking got addicted to his fucking blood, and like, what am I supposed to do when he leaves? When we graduate? I can’t fucking drag him down with me, can I?”  
  
Jongin is silent for a moment, pulling his lips between his teeth as he looks at the ceiling, looking, for all the world, like the picture of restraint. His voice is quiet when he speaks, and it’s fucking eerie.  
  
“So you just went and told Kyungsoo what you’ve been telling yourself this whole fucking time, that you two aren’t ever going to be together, because you’re fucking afraid of commitment and don’t know what the future’s going to be like?”  
  
Taemin’s brows knit together, mouth opening to argue, before he realizes Jongin is fucking right. “I- Well..”  
  
“Did you ever, in your shitty self hate spiral, stop to think about how Kyungsoo is like probably the only fucking sure thing in your life, and how he time and fucking time again comes to save your sorry ass no matter what?”  
  
“I-”  
  
“Or how, even while you’re all fucked up, not wanting to confront your feelings, he’s always just there, patiently waiting for you to fucking get it together already?”  
  
“Well, no, I-”  
  
“Tell me how, in the logic that you have going on in your head, is Kyungsoo going to be the one that goes and abandons your ass when he’s the one who’s constantly fucking volunteering himself to fix you, even when that means he has to fucking swallow his feelings and get hurt in the process.”  
  
Jongin is fucking furious, and Taemin is a little too shocked to speak.  
  
“Do you know how much shit I put up with, being both of your sorry asses’ best friend? You’re literally incapable of dealing with your own fucking feelings and how you literally need Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo wouldn’t fucking give you up if it killed him.”  
  
At that, Taemin finally manages to get a word in. “That’s... what I’m scared of. I don’t want to end up hurting him, I don’t want to be the person that kills Kyungsoo, I don’t, I don’t deserve him.”  
  
Jongin’s eyes soften. “You really think this is better? You think this is how you’re going to keep from hurting Kyungsoo?”  
  
Taemin picks at the fraying ends at the knees of his ripped jeans. “Maybe.”  
  
“Even though you’ve already _been_ hurting him?”  
  
Taemin pushes his fist up through the collar of his shirt, chewing on his knuckles through the fabric. “What am I supposed to do? I don’t want to be qps and then like. Have him leave me, or get so dangerously dependent on him that I can’t fucking function without him-”  
  
“What’s the difference between that and what you have right now with him?”  
  
Taemin doesn’t have an answer to that.  
  
“Do you want to lose your best friend, Taem? Because the way you’re going, that’s all you’re going to get if you don’t want to fucking acknowledge what this is, and what it’s always been. It doesn’t have to fucking _be_ this hard, stop making it so hard.”  
  
Taemin bites his lip, about to speak, when Jongin cuts him off. “I’m telling you all of this shit because I’ve been through this shit with Jjong, and I’ve had to deal with you and Kyungsoo’s foolishness for fucking years, and you haven’t seemed to fucking figure it out yet.”  
  
Jongin pauses to sigh, looking down at his cup before his eyes move to flick back up to Taemin’s, voice soft now.  
  
“But it’s not me you have to answer to, anyway. It’s Soo.”  
  
  
\--  
  
  
Taemin ends up skipping rehearsal, deciding to go back to their dorm after barre. He flops face first into Kyungsoo’s bed, curling up in his blankets. He hasn’t replaced his pillow or the blanket he brought out with him last night, so there’s a possibility that Kyungsoo doesn’t want to come back tonight. The thought chews at him inside, Jongin’s words from earlier coming to haunt him.  
  
Kyungsoo really is one of the surest things Taemin has in his life, and the fact that he feels so much rejection at the idea of Kyungsoo choosing not to sleep in the same room as him, even after how shittily he’s treated him speaks leagues about how accustomed he is to Kyungsoo just quietly putting up with his shit. Kyungsoo deserves better, and Taemin has to own up to that, if he’s going to expect to stay in Kyungsoo’s life.  
  
It’s with that thought that he decides to get up, knowing he could probably catch Kyungsoo coming out of studio voice. He tears out of their dorm room, having to catch himself against the wall of the hallway with his momentum, taking off down the hall. It’s a little liberating, finally being in a space where he can—has to—face the person he’s been running away from all this time.  
  
The way Jongin explained it made it seem so simple, and he’s beating himself up a little for not listening to him earlier. The only way he was going to fix anything would be by being upfront with Kyungsoo, and if anything, Kyungsoo was always patient and willing to fix things. Was always willing to help fix Taemin, too.  
  
He’s in the quad when he catches Kyungsoo’s scent perfuming the air. Looking up, eyes flicking between groups of people, he catches sight of him, hanging off someone’s arm and laughing. He’s calling him hyung, and Taemin sees red, something recoiling in his stomach.  
  
Before he can really process anything, he’s on the other side of the quad, lunging for the person Kyungsoo was holding onto, about to tear him to pieces. He’s no longer in control of his limbs, something more primal lashing out. It’s like he’s in frenzy, and it’s terrifying, but all he can feel is hatred and jealousy clawing up against his insides, and it’s loud and painful and _powerful_.   
  
Kyungsoo has to restrain him, wincing when one of Taemin’s fangs rip a gash up his arm as he puts him into a choke hold. Frustrated and restrained, Taemin puts them under a painful trance, writhing in Kyungsoo’s hold as the other person falls to his knees.  
  
Taemin registers a familiar voice calling out, “Junmyeon!” before Kyungsoo’s dragging him back.  
  
“Jjong, just take care of him okay? I’ll get Taem.”  
  
Then Kyungsoo’s face is in front of his, and despite still being in frenzy, something in him stills, chanting _matematemate_.  
  
Kyungsoo has him by the arm, holding up his bloody arm, and Taemin reaches forward to lick it better, before he’s being dragged away.  
  
  
  
Once they get back to the dorm, Kyungsoo slams him against the door after they get inside, furious.  
  
“What is your fucking Problem, Taemin?!” he yells, shoving at his chest. “You could have fucking killed him!”  
  
Taemin wrestles out of his grip and barely gets past him before Kyungsoo tackles him over the counter, arm folded behind him, head and chest pinned to the surface. Taemin’s frenzy is just now starting to fade, but he’s still upset, not wanting to respond.  
  
“Fucking say something, Taemin I swear to god. You can’t just fucking attack my friends if you’re upset at me, how the fuck does that work? Junmyeon isn’t fucking part of this!”  
  
Taemin growls at the mention of his name, spots of red flashing in his vision. “You’re _mine_.”  
  
Kyungsoo nearly loosens his grip at that, arms tightening when he feels Taemin tensing up.  
  
“What the fuck did you just say?”  
  
“ _Mine_ ,” Taemin grumbles.  
  
Kyungsoo only lets go long enough to flip Taemin over on the counter, bracing his forearm against Taemin’s throat, crowding him into the counter with his body. He’s not about to have this conversation with the back of Taemin’s head.  
  
“That’s not fucking fair Taemin—you can’t just? Expect me to be yours when you can’t fucking face your feelings and tell me what we’re fucking doing? You literally told me just yesterday that we’re-” his voice breaks, “never going to be together. How’s that fucking fair to me?”  
  
“It’s not,” Taemin responds, the frenzy fading enough now that he feels Really Fucking Guilty.  
  
“You’re so fucking lucky barely anyone was out in the quad just now. It was just people from class, and everyone will just assume it’s a couple squabble because everyone thinks you’re my weird emo boyfriend-”  
  
“Aren’t I?” Taemin asks, trying to lighten the atmosphere.  
  
Kyungsoo gets off of him, over it. “Taemin, I’m really not in the fucking mood for this.”  
  
Taemin follows after him, crowding him against the wall in the hallway leading to their room. The panic is coming back, now that he’s majorly fucked up again, and nothing is going to plan, and did he have a plan? Why did he think this was a good idea, Kyungsoo just looks like he’s lost all of Taemin’s trust and-  
  
“Soo, please, I fucking need you.”  
  
“That’s your fucking bloodlust talking.”  
  
Taemin’s fingers are on Kyungsoo’s wrist, insistent. “No, it’s more than that…”  
  
“How the fuck am I supposed to believe that? How long have you been ignoring me now? And it’s only just recently that you decided that I’m good enough to fuck, but not enough to deal with commitment for? Fuck you, fuck your shitty apology, just- fuck off!”  
  
“Look, Soo, I-”  
  
But Kyungsoo is beyond listening. “Do you know how fucking pathetic I felt? I’ve put up with so much of your shit for so fucking long-” he stops to laugh in disbelief. “I-I fucking offered my body up to you. I let myself be your fucking bloodbag, let you fuck me, and for what? You still wouldn’t fucking see it. I can’t belie-“  
  
Taemin cuts him off with a kiss, panicky and desperate, and Kyungsoo slaps him across the face, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.  
  
Taemin shouldn’t be surprised, he knows he deserves it. Still, despite how awfully this is going, he still has to try, for all of the times that he didn’t. He gently takes Kyungsoo’s wrist in his hand, not knowing how to start, but wanting to communicate that things have changed, and Kyungsoo tries to push him off, fighting angry tears.  
  
“You can’t just. Fucking kiss me and expect everything to be okay.” Kyungsoo spits, body wracked with hiccups.  
  
Taemin clutches Kyungsoo’s hand, bringing it up to his lips to kiss his knuckles.  
  
“I know I fucked up.”  
  
Kyungsoo stares at him.  
  
“I really, really fucked up.”  
  
Kyungsoo’s face doesn’t exactly soften, but there’s a look in his eye that tells Taemin to keep going.  
  
“I’ve been in denial for…a really long time. I was scared of how I felt about you, and I didn’t know how to handle it. And then I lashed out at you because I couldn’t see any way out of it… I felt like a monster that depended on you too much, which, I kind of am? I felt like I was just making your life worse, and I had to stay away so we could move on.. I know it doesn’t make sense, but I’ve just been in a really shitty headspace about it, and I know you deserve so much better, but don’t… keep me out. Please. I know I deserve worse, but I know I’m not going to get over you, and I want to try, I want to do better-“  
  
Kyungsoo lets out a breath before turning to their door, Taemin’s hands losing their grip on his as he moves to push it open, stomach dropping. The rejection burns through his body and tears prick at his eyes, stinging as they threaten to overflow.  
  
Then Kyungsoo is looking back at him over his shoulder and asking, “You coming or not.”  
  
It’s not really a question, and Taemin nearly trips over himself in his haste to follow after him.  
  
  
They didn’t know if vampires could suck dick before, not wanting to risk it when Taemin’s fangs were out, which they usually were when they fucked before, having always started with a feeding.  
  
However, if the way he’s swallowing down over Kyungsoo is any indication, vampires can, and do indeed suck dick. His cheeks are hollowed out as he works his mouth over Kyungsoo, watching his face intently as he laves his tongue over Kyungsoo’s cock, curling underneath to press at the sensitive underside.  
  
Kyungsoo keeps groaning when Taemin does something he particularly likes, and the sound, rumbling from his chest, pushes him to take him deeper, until he’s swallowing him nearly down to the base. Kyungsoo’s hips jerk up at the sensation, drawing a sharp breath when Taemin pulls off of him, slowly painting his lips with the precum that dribbles from the head of his cock.  
  
He presses a kiss there, suckling before pulling off completely, resulting in a lewd sticky sounding pop before Kyungsoo is dragging him up to kiss him, mouth insistent on his as he licks up the salty slick that covers Taemin’s lips. He’s oozing against Kyungsoo’s stomach, relishing in the lazy, delicious way that Kyungsoo kisses him. There’s something about it that’s so sure and _right_.  
  
He reaches over to Kyungsoo’s table, pulling open a drawer and getting a couple pumps of lube before he reaches down between them, slowly jacking Kyungsoo off, biting down on his lip as he watches Kyungsoo’s eyes slip from lidded to shut, an appreciative moan slipping from his lips.  
  
“You didn’t wanna-?”  
  
Taemin shakes his head, appreciating how Kyungsoo cock curves up towards his stomach, already wanting to sink down onto it. “Wanna ride you.”  
  
Kyungsoo’s jaw clenches, and Taemin pushes his hair back when he kisses him, open mouthed, his other hand reaching behind him to guide Kyungsoo inside of him, Kyungsoo’s hands moving from the sheets to grip tightly at his waist.  
  
There’s a moment, before Kyungsoo’s inside, where a prickling feeling crawls up from the base of his spine, and he doesn’t know if it’s from anticipation, or if it was possible he could electrocute himself with how much he _wants_ _this_.  
  
Taemin figures the answer is probably yes, since he feels like a live circuit when Kyungsoo is finally pushing inside, feeling himself get stretched open as he sinks down, seriously appreciating Kyungsoo’s girth.  
  
He still doesn’t know if he prefers to be inside Kyungsoo, or to have Kyungsoo inside of him, but he doesn’t think he really needs to choose, just relishing in the feeling of being full. Kyungsoo is mouthing at his shoulder when he starts moving, grinding up against Taemin’s hips as little breaths start getting fucked out of him.  
  
There’s something supremely satisfying about the way Kyungsoo fucks; it feels heavy and grounding, and the sharp slaps of Kyungsoo’s hips against his skin as he thrusts up to meet Taemin as he drops down has him grasping at his shoulders and crying out.  
  
Kyungsoo tilts his head up to catch Taemin’s mouth in another kiss, swallowing down his hiccupy moans, grinding his hips as he picks up the pace, wrapping his hand around Taemin’s sticky cock, squeezing pre out as he jacks him off. He lets out a surprised sound when Kyungsoo thumbs over the head, back bowing to press his chest to Kyungsoo’s as the heat coiling in his groin turns molten.  
  
Taemin slams himself down almost frantically, needing more, when Kyungsoo picks him up, hips still fucking up into him while he gets Taemin on his back, arm stretched out to support himself so he isn’t toppling over Taemin, the other still at his waist to help pull him down onto Kyungsoo’s dick. Taemin’s legs wrap around Kyungsoo’s back, and this angle has Kyungsoo fucking his vision blurry.  
  
His fingers are digging into Kyungsoo’s arms, just trying to hold on, cries getting fucked out of his throat as Kyungsoo starts slamming into him senselessly. He can hear Kyungsoo’s blood thrumming in his veins, and something inside him is screeching to _claim him, claim him_.  
  
Pulling Taemin down on top of him so they’re chest to chest, he licks a stripe up the side of his neck, tasting the tangy sweat that’s collected there in beads. His pupils dilate as he mouths over Kyungsoo’s pulse point, and Taemin’s hand tightens around his arm, voice coming out choked behind clenched teeth.  
  
“Fuck, fuck, please, Soo, let me-”  
  
Kyungsoo groans into his neck, nodding as he grinds deeply inside of him. His fangs extending just as he bites down, white hot liquid pleasure shooting down his spine as his back arches off of the bed, and he registers the feeling of Kyungsoo releasing inside of him as his own cock spurts hot and heavy between them.  
  
  
After, Kyungsoo is murmuring into his hair as they lay back against the pillows, Taemin shifting around so he can trace Kyungsoo’s features with his fingers.  
  
“That was new.”  
  
“Me biting you during sex?”  
  
“Well. Yes, but the whole, you letting me inside your head thing, too. That was really fucking incredible.”  
  
Despite being sleepy, Taemin’s body surges forward to press an open mouthed kiss to Kyungsoo’s, feeling accomplished and sated and a million other good things.  
  
Kyungsoo’s nose wrinkles, reaching forward to butt Taemin’s cheek with his nose. “Don’t kiss me with my blood still in your mouth, asshole, that’s gross.”  
  
  
Outside their door, Jongin and Jonghyun silently high-five.

 


End file.
